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1974 NFL

1974 Dallas Cowboys: The End Of A Playoff Streak

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From 1966 through 1983, the Cowboy franchise, led by head coach Tom Landry, was the standard of consistent excellence. They made the playoffs every year but one in that string. The 1974 Dallas Cowboys season was the odd one out—and even that team would have qualified for postseason play under the standards that came into existence just four years later.

Roger Staubach had a down year, at least by the Hall of Fame standards the quarterback would set throughout his career. Staubach’s 7.1 yards-per-attempt was good enough, ranking ninth among starting QBs. But his 53% completion rate was 14th, and his 4.2 interception rate was unusually high for him, ranking 12th.

All decline is relative though, and the Dallas offense was still a good one. Drew Pearson was an emerging star at wide receiver, and the 23-year-old made All-Pro with 62 catches for over 1,000 yards. Golden Richards was a big-play threat and Billy Joe DuPree was a tight end who could stretch the field.

Calvin Hill continued to be the focal point of the Cowboy running game, going for 844 yards and punching a Pro Bowl ticket. He got help from up-and-coming Robert Newhouse and veteran Walt Garrison. The offense line was keyed by a Pro Bowl right side, guard Blaine Nye and tackle Rayfield Wright. The Dallas offense ultimately ranked 8th in the 26-team league for points scored.

Defensively, the Cowboys had a couple of good young defensive lineman with Harvey Martin and Ed “Too Tall” Jones at the ends. Lee Roy Jordan was a veteran Pro Bowler at linebacker, and Cliff Harris also got Pro Bowl recognition at the free safety spot. The Dallas defense wasn’t great, but it was respectable, at 10th in the league for points allowed.

A late afternoon kickoff in Atlanta opened the season. The Falcons had contended to the bitter end for a playoff berth in a race that involved Dallas in 1973. But Atlanta would collapse this season and the Cowboys got that rolling. A 411-108 edge in total yards was led by Staubach going 13/27 for 252 yards. The final was 24-0.

On a Monday Night visit to mediocre Philadelphia, Dallas led 7-0 in the third quarter and was on the doorstep of adding more. Then the Eagles returned a fumble 96 yards for a touchdown. On a night when Pearson caught ten balls for 161 yards, and Dallas generally outplayed Philly, they dropped a 13-10 decision

It got worse at home against a New York Giants team that was awful. While Staubach went 20/37 for 256 yards and Pearson’s six catches netted 116 yards, Staubach was also sacked six times and threw three interceptions. Dallas didn’t run the ball and lost turnovers 5-4. They suffered a terrible 14-6 defeat.

And now they had defending NFC champion Minnesota coming to town. The Vikings had come here and beaten Dallas 27-10 in the previous year’s NFC Championship Game, and they took a 20-7 lead after three quarters in this one. Hill would rush for 95 yards and Dallas rallied to take a 21-20 lead. But Staubach also threw four interceptions and that was too much to overcome. A late Minnesota field goal sent Dallas to a third straight loss.

The St. Louis Cardinals, an NFC East rival in the alignment that existed through 2001, would emerge as a contender this year and were off to a 4-0 start. Oddsmakers weren’t sold yet, and still made Dallas a (-3.5) favorite on the road. Staubach would play well, going 19/29 for 236 yards. Pearson would have a big game, catching eight passes for 118 yards. Dallas would rally from a 28-14 deficit to tie it at 28-all. But the defense gave up big plays in the passing game, and once again, a fourth-quarter field goal sent the Cowboys to defeat, 31-28.

A 1-4 start is alarming under any circumstances. Further consider that prior to 1978, only one wild-card per conference could make the playoffs and the regular season was only 14 games. You have the landscape for an all-out fire alarm in Big D.

Rematches were ahead with the Eagles, Giants, and Cardinals, and the Cowboys had already reached the must-win point. They trailed Philly at home, 24-17 in the third quarter. But they were controlling the ground game, with Hill on his way to 140 yards. They were pressuring the quarterback, getting six sacks. Staubach was playing mistake-free football and the tide turned in a 31-24 comeback win.

On the road in New York, Dallas was facing an old friend. Craig Morton had been Staubach’s predecessor at starter until midway through 1971, and his backup the last two seasons. Morton was now with the Giants. The Cowboys got a short touchdown run from Garrison and a 32-yard Staubach-to-Pearson connection staked Dallas to a 14-0 lead. They intercepted Morton three times and churned out a 21-7 win.

St. Louis came to old (then new) Texas Stadium on the first weekend of November. A clean game with no turnovers either way saw Dallas trailing 14-7 in the fourth quarter. A 12-yard TD run from Hill tied it. This time, the late field goal went the Cowboys’ way. They won 17-14 and were back to even at 4-4.

Dallas moved past the .500 mark by muscling up against San Francisco. The Cowboys enjoyed a 221-64 edge on the ground. 132 of those yards came from Hill and he scored the go-ahead touchdown in a 20-14 home win.

The Washington Redskins were a perennial contender in the 1970s, and the Redskins, along with the Cardinals, were who the Cowboys had to catch. Or, they at least had to catch one of them to have any hope of the playoffs. A road trip to D.C. for a late Sunday afternoon kickoff would begin a three-week stretch where they would play the ‘Skins twice.

But it couldn’t have gone worse. Dallas trailed 28-0 by halftime. Forced out of the running game, Staubach was erratic, going 16/38 for 174 yards. He was sacked five times. The Cowboys tried to rally, but the deficit was too big in a devastating 28-21 loss.

Dallas came back home to beat mediocre Houston 10-0 behind a 214-26 advantage on the ground. They were 6-5. St. Louis was leading the division at 9-2 and out of reach. Washington was 8-3. Catching the Redskins wouldn’t be easy, but at the very least, they were coming to Dallas for Thanksgiving.

This would be one of the historic games in the long Cowboy tradition of hosting the late afternoon game on Turkey Day. They were trailing 16-3. Staubach was knocked out of the game. For one day, Longley was a star. He went 11/20 for 203 yards and two touchdowns. His 50-yard strike to Pearson in the fourth quarter pulled out a 23-17 win and kept Dallas’ season alive for the moment.

The Cowboys were only a game back of the Redskins, but the tiebreakers were still working against them—those division losses to the Giants and Eagles early in the year were still taking a toll. So, Dallas needed to win their last two, and Washington had to lose their last two.

Lowly Cleveland came in for a late Saturday afternoon game. Staubach struck quickly, with touchdown passes of 35 and 41 yards to Richards. Staubach would finish 14/24 for 230 yards and three TDs. The Browns closed to within 20-17, but Dallas was also running the ball, to the tune of a 252-87 rush yardage edge. They pulled back away to a 41-17 win.

On Monday Night, Washington was on the road against the NFC West champion Los Angeles Rams. The Redskins fell behind early, giving hope to Cowboy fans. But the Rams had nothing to play for, the Redskins had everything, and Washington rallied to win 23-17. Dallas’ string of eight straight playoff appearances was over.

They went on to close the year at Oakland, where the Raiders had the best record in the NFL. Staubach made some big plays throwing for 266 yards. But he was also erratic, at 17/39, and forced to play from behind, in a 24-9 hole. Dallas ultimately lost 27-23.

The final record was 8-6. If the second wild-card, which came into existence in 1978, had been around, Dallas would have gotten a third game with Washington. But by the standards of 1974, they were done.

Landry’s team wouldn’t stay down for long. By 1975, they simply picked up and started another playoff streak, this one lasting nine years. They returned to the Super Bowl in ’75 and won it again in 1977.

1974 Los Angeles Rams: QB Turmoil & An NFC Championship Game Trip

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In the first year of Chuck Knox’s coaching tenure, the Rams jumped into contention behind a trade for veteran quarterback John Hadl. The 1974 Los Angeles Rams followed the opposite path—after a slow start, Knox traded Hadl in midseason, and the Rams still reached the NFC Championship Game.

Regardless of who was playing quarterback, Hadl or his successor James Harris, the key to the Rams offense was giving the football to Pro Bowl running back Lawrence McCutcheon. Running behind a line led by another Pro Bowler, left guard Tom Mack, McCutcheon rolled up over 1,110 yards.

Los Angeles had a pair of big-play threats at wide receiver. In an era when receivers didn’t rack up big numbers for catches, Harold Jackson and Jack Snow combined for 54 receptions, and were each around 17 yards-per-catch.

In Harris’ nine games as the starting quarterback, he completed 54 percent of his passes, and had an 11-6 TD/INT ratio, both of which were good in historical context. He also generated 7.8 yards-per-attempt, which is good in any context. It was all enough that, even with Hadl’s slow start and the instability it caused, for the Rams to at least be league-average on offense—they ranked 13th in a 26-team league for points scored.

That’s enough to win when you have the league’s stingiest defense. Los Angeles had a terrific defensive line. Jack Youngblood was one of the game’s premier defensive ends, and made All-Pro. Fred Dryer was on the other end, and he recorded 15 sacks. The interior was manned by veteran Pro Bowler Merlin Olsen, and pass-rusher Larry Brooks, who picked up 11 sacks coming up the middle.

With that kind of a pass rush, it’s easy to see why these Rams had ball hawks in the secondary. Strong safety Dave Elmendorf and cornerback Charlie Stukes each intercepted seven passes in what was then just a 14-game schedule. The linebacking corps was led by Pro Bowler Isiah Robertson. Los Angeles was the best in the NFL in points allowed.

That defense went on display right away in Week 1, limiting a respectable Denver Broncos team to 52 yards on the ground and keying a 17-10 win. Then the D spun a shutout in the home opener against New Orleans. McCutcheon ran for 102 yards; Hadl threw TD passes to Snow and Jackson and the final was 24-zip.

Things started to go awry on a road trip to face mediocre New England. While Jackson’s six catches went for 102 yards, Hadl also threw two interceptions, the team lost three fumbles and the Rams lost to the Patriots 20-14.

The running game got cranking again at home against the Detroit Lions, who were bound for a .500 season. The final rush margin was 207-65, with McCutcheon going for 124 yards in tough 16-13 win.

It was the following week’s road trip to Green Bay that would prove a seminal moment for both franchises. Hadl was awful—he went 6/16 for 59 yards and threw two interceptions. The Los Angeles offense was lifeless in a 17-6 loss. Knox had seen enough. He benched Hadl and opted for Harris. And for some reason, he found the Packers to be a willing trade partner.

Eight days after this debacle, Green Bay handed over two first-round draft picks, a second-rounder and a third-rounder for the 34-year-old Hadl. It was a king’s ransom that might make a future generation of Rams fans think of a similar deal the team made when they gave up the right to draft Robert Griffin III in 2012.

In the meantime, Harris was now Knox’s man behind center. At 3-2, Los Angeles met San Francisco, who was 2-3. The 49ers, after being the NFC West’s best team in the early part of the decade, were falling into sub-.500 territory. Elmendorf got the party started in this game with a 52-yard Pick 6. Harris was brilliant, going 12/15 for 276 yards, three touchdown passes and no interceptions. The result was a 37-14 rout.

L.A. went on the road to face the mediocre New York Jets. Harris struggled in this one, going 6/15 for 49 yards. A two-touchdown favorite, the Rams were trailing 13-6 going into the fourth quarter. But they were running the ball. McCutcheon finished with 139 yards on the day. He scored twice in the final period and Los Angeles got out of old Shea Stadium with a 20-13 win.

The road game in San Francisco was on Monday Night Football. Harris was efficient, going 12/20 for 150 yards and avoiding mistakes. They weren’t running the ball well and drives often bogged down. But with the defense locked in, it was enough to squeeze out a 15-13 win.

Atlanta, after nearly making the playoffs in 1973, was going through an awful season and the Ram defense completely bottled up the Falcons, allowing just 164 total yards. Harris threw a 40-yard touchdown strike to Jackson in the first quarter, then later came back to him for a 25-yard scoring toss. L.A. rolled to a 21-0 win.

The Falcons, along with the Saints, joined the Rams and 49ers in the NFC West prior to the realignment of 2002. Los Angeles made their return to trip to New Orleans on November 17. The Rams were 7-2, the Saints were 3-6. This was a chance to put the division race away.  

Playing in Tulane Stadium, New Orleans’ home prior to the construction of the Superdome, L.A. was exceptionally sloppy. They put the ball on the ground seven times, lost three of those, and dropped a 22-7 decision. Los Angeles was still comfortably in control of the NFC West with four weeks left, but there was still work to do.

A showdown with the Minnesota Vikings, the defending NFC champs, was next. Playing at home, the Rams were trailing 17-6 after three quarters. But their defense was playing well. So was Harris. He finished the game at 24/37 for 249 yards and avoided mistakes. Los Angeles rallied and a nine-yard touchdown pass to Snow was the game-winner in a 20-17 triumph.

When New Orleans lost on Monday Night, the NFC West race was over. So, for all practical purposes was the purpose of the season. Homefield advantage among division winners was settled by a rotation system, rather than merit. This was the last year of that system, and it meant the final three games would have no meaning.

The Rams made their return trip to Atlanta. In a game they led 13-7 at the half, Elmendorf’s 57-yard Pick-6 broke it open. L.A. held Atlanta to 19 yards on the ground, won turnover margin 5-0 and took home a 30-7 triumph.

A Monday Night date with the Washington Redskins was against a team seeking to clinch a playoff spot. Harris threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Jackson in the first quarter, and the Rams built a 10-0 lead. But perhaps the difference in urgency was a factor the rest of the way. The L.A. pass defense was soft on this night and they ended up losing 23-17.

The finale was against playoff-bound Buffalo and their great running back. O.J. Simpson. Harris went 9/17 for 170 yards to key a 19-14 win. After all the quarterback turmoil of the season’s first half, Los Angeles was 10-4, as were the three other playoff teams in the NFC. By the standards of today’s tiebreaking system, the Rams would have been the #1 seed. Under the rotation system of ’74, they would get the Divisional Round at home, but faced the prospect of going to Minnesota for the NFC Championship Game.

The Redskins made a return trip west for a game that would close Divisional Round Weekend on Sunday. Harris put L.A. on the board with a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Bob Klein. But by halftime, Washington had nudged out to a 10-7 lead.

What Los Angeles was doing was running the ball and stopping the run. As a byproduct of that, they were getting turnovers. The Rams added a couple field goals and held a 13-10 lead late in the game. Robertson then got the biggest of the six turnovers L.A. would collect—a 59-yard Pick-6 that sealed the 19-10 win.

It was on to Minnesota for the NFC Championship Game. Harris made some big plays, going 13/23 for 248 yards. But he was also intercepted twice. The biggest—and most controversial—came in the third quarter. Trailing 7-3, Los Angeles had 2nd-and-goal on the 1-yard line. Mack was called for illegal motion. Replays showed he hadn’t moved. But forced to throw, Harris was intercepted in the end zone. The Rams also lost three fumbles, but this goal-line sequence was clearly the biggest moment in a 14-10 loss.

Knox was still 2-for-2 in making postseasons, and that’s a streak that would extend to 5-for-5 through the end of his tenure following the 1977 season. But it’s a tenure that never got to the Super Bowl. This was the first of three straight NFC Championship Game defeats.

1974 Oakland Raiders: Historic and Heartbreaking All At Once

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The 1974 Oakland Raiders had a big year—even a historic one. Their emerging quarterback, Ken Stabler, won the MVP award and the Raiders won one of the NFL’s most memorable playoff games. But the season ended with a fourth-quarter collapse and a second straight loss in the AFC Championship Game that would leave a bitter taste in their mouths.

Stabler had become the starting quarterback early in 1973. In this ’74 season, his 57 percent completion rate and 8.0 yards-per-attempt both ranked in the top five in the league. His 3.9 interception rate ranked 10th among the league’s 26 starting QBs. What really set Stabler apart from his peers was a league-leading 26 touchdown passes, and the fact Oakland’s offense scored more points than anyone in the NFL.

Cliff Branch was Stabler’s big-play threat. The All-Pro wide receiver caught 60 passes at better than 18 yards a pop. Fred Biletnikoff caught 42 balls and averaged 14.1 per catch. Tight end Bob Moore was a reliable third target.

The running game’s focal point was fullback Marv Hubbard, who ran for 865 yards. He was supported by Clarence Davis who added over 500 more. But the real leaders of the running game were up front—the great Hall of Fame tandem of left tackle Art Shell and left guard Gene Upshaw were both All-Pro in their best year together to date.

Oakland’s defense wasn’t spectacular, but they were solid. The Raider D had a Pro Bowler at each level—Otis Sistrunk in the trenches, Phil Villapiano at the Pro Bowl, and hard-hitting Jack Tatum at free safety. Oakland’s defense ranked ninth in the league for points allowed.

The Raiders opened the season in Buffalo on Monday Night Football. The Bills had a running back named O.J. Simpson who was coming off an MVP year, and the team would make the postseason in 1974. Oakland took a 20-14 lead in the fourth quarter when defensive tackle Art Thomas returned a fumble for a touchdown. But the Bills launched a touchdown drive and sent the Raiders to a 21-20 loss.

Oakland came home to face Kansas City. The Chiefs had been the Raiders’ historic rival, going well back into the 1960s when they were in the AFL together. But Kansas City had faded at the end of 1973, and they fell hard this season. Stabler threw touchdown passes to tight end Dave Casper and wide receiver Mike Sinai to build an early 14-0 lead. The defense intercepted five passes, two by corner Skip Thomas, and the result was an easy 27-7 win.

It was on to Pittsburgh for a late Sunday afternoon showdown. The rivalry between these two teams was gaining steam. Oakland lost an epic playoff game at this venue in 1972 but taken revenge in the ’73 divisional playoffs. On this September day, the Raiders got physical. Hubbard pounded out 96 yards on the ground, the defense was dominant, and Oakland won 17-0.

The Raiders stayed in the Rustbelt and went on to face lowly Cleveland. After spotting the Browns a 10-0 lead, Stabler opened up and went 19/33 for 237 yards. Davis rolled up 116 yards on the ground. Oakland had moved ahead 23-17 by halftime and pulled away to win 40-24.

On a road game against a subpar San Diego Chargers team, the Raiders struggled to put points on the board. But the running game kept pounding, to the tune of over 200 yards. Stabler tossed a short touchdown pass to Moore in the fourth quarter to pull out a 14-10 win.

A home game with Cincinnati was a matchup of 4-1 teams. But these were 4-1 teams that would go in opposite directions and that basically started around the second quarter. The Bengals jumped out to a 14-3 lead. But Stabler would make big plays—his 19/41 passing line produced 252 yards. A back-and-forth battle ended up as a 30-27 win for Oakland. Cincinnati ended the season as a .500 team.

The Raiders traveled across the Bay to play San Francisco. The 49ers had been one of the league’s better teams in the early years of this decade but were starting to fade. Oakland trailed 24-14 in the third quarter. But they won turnover margin 5-1. Hubbard powered for 117 yards. Stabler attempted just 11 passes and only completed six—but they went for 140 yards. The Raiders closed with a rush and won 35-24.

In this era, the NFL didn’t go out of its way to avoid lengthy road trips, so Oakland went to Denver to play their fifth road game in six weeks. The Broncos were coming into this game at 3-3-1, and were the Raiders’ top competition in what was proving to be a weak AFC West. Oakland had a chance to put this division race to bed early, and they did. Stabler went 12/19 for 217 yards, four touchdown passes and no interceptions. The final was 28-17.

1974 was the final year that the NFL used a rotation system, rather than merit, to determine homefield advantage in the playoffs. In practical terms, that meant the final six weeks of what was then a 14-game schedule were mostly meaningless for the Raiders, now that the division title was close to being formally wrapped up. The good news for Oakland fans is that the rotation fell in their favor—they would get their two playoff games at home.

The Raiders hosted mediocre Detroit and ran over the Lions to the tune of a 284-63 edge in rush yardage. Stabler was lights-out, going 20/24, for 248 yards and no mistakes. The result was a 35-13 rout. The following week against San Diego, Branch had his second straight 100-yard receiving game. That overcame the lack of a ground attack, and the Raiders won another tough game with the Chargers, 17-10. When the Broncos lost on Monday Night Football, the AFC West title was officially in the bag.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, perhaps the combination of clinching the division and having too much turkey left the Raiders a little soft. Denver came into Oakland and rolled up nearly 300 yards rushing, handing Oakland a 20-17 loss.

The offense got back on track the next week at home against New England. Stabler threw a 67-yard TD strike to Branch to get a 7-3 lead in the second quarter. With a 20-19 lead in the third quarter, Stabler and Branch connected again, this time from 13 yards. Branch finished with 138 receiving yards. Stabler went 16/21 for 251 yards. The Raiders won 41-26.

John Madden’s defense still needed to tighten up in these final two weeks. A windy and wet late afternoon game in Kansas City served that purpose. Stabler sat out what was a sloppy game both ways, but Oakland pulled out a 7-6 win.

The NFL had good intentions in scheduling Oakland to host Dallas for the final Monday Night game of the season on December 14. But the Cowboys, at 8-5, had been knocked out of the playoffs for the only time in this decade, and the Raiders were just doing their final playoff tune-up. Stabler went 11/17 for 131 yards and two touchdowns, to build a 17-9 halftime lead. The Snake then took a breather, while veteran backups Daryle Lamonica and George Blanda played. Oakland won 27-23.

With a 12-2 record, the Raiders would have still enjoyed homefield advantage under the rules of today. But the rotation system was sending the AFC’s #2 team to Oakland for the divisional playoff. And that team was none other than the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Miami Dolphins.

On a late Saturday afternoon, the Raiders and Dolphins staged an all-time classic. Oakland allowed the opening kickoff to be run back for a touchdown. In the second quarter, Stabler got the Raiders on the board with a 31-yard touchdown pass to running back Charlie Smith, but they still trailed 10-7 at the half.

Stabler threw a 13-yard TD pass to Biletnikoff in the third quarter to get the lead. Miami countered with a touchdown of their own. Even though the Dolphins missed the extra point, they later added a field goal to put the Raiders in a 19-14 hole.

Miami was controlling the running game, so it was in Stabler’s hands in the fourth quarter. He hit Branch on a 72-yard touchdown pass to get a 21-19 lead. Miami answered to move ahead 26-21. With two minutes to play, the Raiders had the ball on their own 32-yard line.

Biletnikoff was having a big day and would catch eight passes for 122 yards against one of the league’s premier defenses. He and Stabler connected on some big plays, as Oakland marched down the field. They reached the eight-yard line as the clock ticked under 30 seconds. The Raiders were out of timeouts.

Stabler rolled to his left. As a lefthander, it was fortunate he was rolling to his open side, because Miami defensive lineman Vern Den Herder was in pursuit and got his arms around the Snake. Falling to the ground, Stabler was able to lob a pass to the end zone. Among three Dolphin defenders, Clarence Davis went up and got the ball. It’s known as The Sea of Hands catch. And it gave Oakland a dramatic 28-26 win.

The Raiders-Dolphins game was seen as the de facto Super Bowl. In retrospect, it sounds foolish to have so casually dismissed the Steelers, who were on their way to Oakland for the AFC Championship Game. But when you consider that Pittsburgh had yet to win a Super Bowl, that their 10-3-1 record had been compiled without beating a good team, that they had lost their last two meetings with the Raiders by a combined 50-14, and that the one win in 1972 had taken one of the NFL’s all-time fluke plays—well, when you consider all that, it’s easy to see why public perception was what it was.

But public perception was going to change, and that change came in the fourth quarter of this 1974 AFC Championship Game. Oakland led 10-3, but they were being hammered up front. They only ran for 29 yards, while the Steelers rolled up 210 yards on the ground. Stabler threw three interceptions. While the Steelers also turned it over three times, the advantage Oakland had enjoyed in this area in previous victories was gone. And Pittsburgh just muscled their way to a 24-13 win.

Sports can be cruel. By any reasonable measurement, this 1974 Oakland Raiders season was a  resounding success. But the Raiders were at a point in their historical arc, where reasonable measurements were out, and “Super Bowl or bust” was in. Stabler would later tell a biographer that he got mad throughout the offseason thinking of the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game.  

The good news is that Oakland would keep contending in 1975. The bad news is that they would lose another AFC Championship Game to Pittsburgh. But let’s get back to good news—in 1976, they got a third crack at the Steelers for the AFC title. This time, they won it. And they finished the job with a Super Bowl title.

Back-To-Back Super Bowl Trips For The 1974 Minnesota Vikings

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The 1974 Minnesota Vikings weren’t quite as good as their 1973 predecessors in the regular season. But the ’74 Vikes were still plenty good, as they went 10-4. And they were just as good in the playoffs, winning a second straight NFC Championship before finally falling in the Super Bowl.

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Fran Tarkenton was 34-years-old, but the scrambling quarterback still threw for nearly 2,600 yards. There was a bit of dip in production from second-year running back Chuck Foreman and veteran big-play wideout John Gilliam. But Tarkenton, and reliable right tackle Ron Yary on the offensive line, still led an offense that was able to finish fifth in the NFL in points scored.

The defense was even better, ranking third. The fearsome front four of the “Purple People Eaters” was starting to show wear and tear, but they were still plenty good. Defensive end Carl Eller didn’t make 1st-team All-Pro, but he was still a Pro Bowler. Jim Marshall was now an aging 37, but could still play. The Vikes moved 26-year-old Doug Sutherland into the defensive tackle spot previously anchored by Gary Larsen. And no defensive tackle anywhere was better than Alan Page, again an All-Pro.

Where the defense did take a modest step back from ’73 was at linebacker and in the secondary. Jeff Siemon, the young middle linebacker didn’t make it back to the Pro Bowl. Corner Bobby Bryant had injury problems, but 32-year-old Pro Bowl free safety Paul Krause helped keep everything together.

Minnesota opened the season at Green Bay and broke open a 10-10 game in the third quarter, with corner Nate Wright picking off Jerry Tagge twice and the Vikings won 32-17. One week later, they took a defensive battle in Detroit’s old Tiger Stadium. The final was 7-6, as the Lions could only pass for 56 yards, while Tarkenton was able to throw for 142 and give his team at least a little bit of juice.

Another ugly game followed, an 11-7 home win over Chicago. But ugly or no, the Vikings were 3-0 and had beaten their three divisional rivals. Up net was a road trip to Dallas. The Cowboys were off to a 1-2 start, but had become a perennial playoff team under Tom Landry and this was a rematch of the previous year’s NFC Championship Game.

In a late afternoon kickoff, Minnesota gave up an early 58-yard touchdown pass to Roger Staubach, but Foreman responded by taking a pass from Tarkenton and going 66 yards. It set up a back-and-forth battle, and one that the Vikings would win 23-21 on a fourth-quarter field goal from Fred Cox. It set the tone for a rare year where Landry’s Cowboys would miss the playoffs.

The following week against the Houston Oilers, an average team, Tarkenton threw an 80-yard touchdown strike to Gilliam, setting the tone for a 51-10 blowout. Then, at 5-0, the Vikings let a couple games slip.

Home games with Detroit and New England—both .500 teams—saw Minnesota hold fourth-quarter leads and give them up on late touchdowns, losing 20-16 and 17-14 respectively. They righted the ship at lowly Chicago a week later, when the defense took over and led a 17-0 win.

The Monday Night stage was next and it was against the St. Louis Cardinals, who were on their way to an NFC East title. The Vikings trailed 17-14 at half and St. Louis quarterback Jim Hart would throw for 353 yards. But the Vikes ran the ball well, with vet Dave Osborn coming up with 98 yards. Tarkenton and Foreman each ran for touchdowns in the second half and Minnesota escaped St. Louis with a 28-24 win.

Bud Grant’s team held a three-game lead in their division, and this was an era were only four teams per conference were in the playoffs, meaning no first-round byes. Moreover, homefield advantage was determined by a rotation system. Which is basically a way of saying the Vikings’ regular season work was done.

They played like it the next two weeks. The Packers came to the Twin Cities and the Vikings were overrun by John Brockington, who keyed a rush attack that produced 202 yards and a 19-7 upset. Minnesota then lost in Los Angeles to a good Rams team, on their way to the playoffs. The Vikes led 17-6 after three quarters, but again had a game where they didn’t close. James Harris threw for 249 yards and led the Rams to a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns and a 20-17 win.

It’s this inability to close games that made the 1974 Minnesota Vikings “only” very good, as opposed to outstanding. They didn’t play well the following week at home against a poor New Orleans team. It was 15-9 in the fourth quarter before Tarkenton and Gilliam hooked up twice to finally break it open.

Tarkenton sat out the next week and played part-time in the finale, both games against bad teams in the Atlanta Falcons and Kanas City Chiefs. The Vikings still won both comfortably and whatever problems they’d had, they were 10-4 and poised for another Super Bowl run.

Another game with St. Louis, this one at the old Met in Minneapolis, started the postseason. It was a scoreless first quarter, then Hart and Tarkenton swapped TD passes in the second. The Viking defense played much better against Hart then was the case in the earlier Monday Night game though. Hart only completed 18/40 passes for 200 yards.

Tarkenton was much more efficient, at 13/23 for 169 yards, he was backed by a running game, as Foreman went for 114 yards and Osborn for 64 more. A field goal, a fumble return for a score by corner Nate Wright and a 38-yard strike from Tarkenton to Gilliam broke the game open in the third quarter and it ended 30-14.

The Los Angeles Rams came north for another rematch. Minnesota led 7-3 in the third quarter, when Harris hit Harold Jackson on a 73-yard strike that got the Rams to the two-yard line. But a false start was called on Ram guard Tom Mack, and forced to throw, Harris threw one to Viking linebacker Wally Hilgenberg.

Minnesota took a 14-3 lead in the fourth quarter and hung on 14-10. It was a sloppy game, with eight turnovers in all. But the Vikings collected five of those turnovers and it was the biggest reason they were going back to the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl was against the Pittsburgh Steelers down in New Orleans, at Tulane Stadium. The Steel Curtain was starting a dynasty and their defense was too much for Minnesota. The Vikes could only run for 17 yards. Tarkenton threw three interceptions and the only Vikings points came on a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown. They lost 16-6 in a game that wasn’t that close.

Minnesota wasn’t on a par with the Steel Curtain, just as they hadn’t been on a par with Don Shula’s Miami Dolphins the prior year, or with John Madden’s Oakland Raiders two years later. What the Vikings were was better than anyone in the NFC, a group of teams that still included Landry’s Cowboys, George Allen’s Washington Redskins and Chuck Knox’s Rams. And that’s pretty good.